The Junk Chronicles
by feistymaus25
Summary: With senior year about to start, Bellas legacy Emily has one last shot to pull the Barden Bellas out of their slump to secure their position at the top once more. But, with the added pressure of the stellar Treblemakers, the dream starts to begin to look like a disaster. When tradegy strikes the girls, the only option they have left is to join forces with their rivals.


Not much had changed at Barden University over the years. The buildings were the same - granted, there was a new sports centre on the other side of Acre's Field, and the art department had went through some renovations, but in essence, the university was exactly how Emily Junk remembered it from her freshman year.

Now a senior, the Barden Bella legacy was about to tackle a new year filled with new adventures, opportunities and life altering friendships that she could write songs about at the end of the day.

At the end of her freshman year, Emily had experienced more than most her students could ever comprehend, her biggest achievement being a part of the team that won the 2015 World's, and by doing so reinstated the Bellas that she had once only dreamed of being a part of. Now, three years later, she was about to captain the sinking ship that had become the Barden Bellas.

The only thing that made the legacy feel worse about this was watching the Treblemakers perform at the opening ceremony. They were the complete opposite of what Emily had hoped them to be. Lead by Spencer Pope, the Treblemakers had won both regionals and sectionals for the past two years and this was not a fact that the Treble allowed her to forget.

If only she could be more like Beca Mitchell. She, along with Chloe Beale, had somehow turned a ragtag team of girls into international champions and it had been left to Emily to carry on with that mentality, but it never happened.

"Em? Hey - Earth to Em."

The Bella tore her eyes away from the Trebles captain, who was busy talking about how they were the reigning champs and how this year was the turkey for them, to see that her best friend Lauren had been snapping her fingers in an attempt to gain her attention. Every word that the male said boiled her blood and she couldn't wait to get auditions out of the way so that they could start practice. "What?"

"You look like you're about to either break down or break something, what's wrong?"

Emily glanced at the blonde before shrugging her right shoulder. "I'm just tired of that aca-asshole thinking that the Treblemakers are untouchable. We have to beat them this year. We have to." She left the fact that this was their last year to do so unsaid. They both knew this fact all too well.

Emily stiffened in her seat as she watched the Treblemakers begin their song. It was a performance of ' _Air Guitar'_ by McBusted and she could only marvel at how well their voices blended. Everything seemed to be on point and that only made the daunting task of beating them more… _daunting_.

"We will, okay? Auditions are next week and I know that we'll get some awesome new members and everything will be fine so stop stressing, you'll drive yourself into an early grave if you don't stop. Besides, once classes start you can go back to pretending that Spencer Pope and his shuffling baboons don't exist."

 ** _Tried karaoke, but they told me I was only okay. I guess I never should have sang Beyonce or MJ, so I dropped the mic._**

"I wouldn't exactly say they were shuffling baboons, just look-"

"You're missing the point here."

Lauren was right, as always, but that didn't stop Emily from chewing on her thumbnail as she watched the Treblemakers bounce around the stage with energy that could rival a hamster on coffee. The crowd were loving them, and if Emily had any inclination of being honest, she would have admitted that the performance was electric. It almost reminded her of the Treblemakers she had watched during her freshman year, except she had found the leader back then likeable and fun. Everything that Spencer wasn't.

"The point is that you need to stop worrying about what they're doing and just focus on us. We'll get there eventually, you just gotta-"

"Don't do it."

"Aca-beeeeeeeeeelieve it," Lauren smirked as Emily delivered a prompt shove to her shoulder. "Have you heard from Benji lately?"

 ** _Close my eyes and see the crowd, but my fingers don't make any sound. My air guitar._**

Emily kept her eyes forward, the blue lighting of the stage illuminating the brown of her irises in a gentle glow. "He visited a few weeks ago but since then? Not really, no. He got promoted just as the summer started so he's been busy with that."

The rest of the orientation was a blur. Emily had retreated to the door not long after the Treblemakers had finished and vacated the stage. However, she didn't get far as her body collided with the one person she didn't want to see.

"Enjoy the show?" the dark eyed male grinned as he settled her stumbling with two hands upon her shoulder. "It's always great to see our biggest fan at our performances."

"That's just… shut up, Spencer."

Emily's cheeks were starting to burn red as it was painfully obvious to everyone around her that she was terrible at thinking up comebacks on the spot. She was infuriated beyond belief and it was only the first day back.

 _Fantastic_.


End file.
